Martinez hat-trick helps lift GAU FC up to third overall

The PFF Women’s League returned Saturday morning since pausing for the UAAP season last January. Club teams Green Archers United FC and Fuego Espanya opened proceedings for the weekend, with the Alabang-based squad claiming a commanding 5-nil victory.

Four minutes later, Annalie Martinez gathered a loose ball before darting past the Fuego Espanya defense for the first of her three goals.

In the 29th minute, Marielle Benitez’s pass to Jill Panganiban running down the left flank looked like she would score the club’s third goal but she passed it off to Martinez at the last second who tapped it in. Martinez completed the hat-trick six minutes later after taking advantage of a bad clearance.

With five minutes remaining, Bea Delos Reyes spotted new teammate Michaela Maligalig sprinting down the left. Delos Reyes made the pass and Maligalig zeroed in the Green Archers’ fifth and final goal.

Coach Eleonora Dillera was pleased with the win that pushed her side up the league rankings to third, happy that the ladies had stayed competitive even after the very long layoff. “The players practiced this week, Tuesday and Thursday, so I think that helped,” she said.

Playing mornings — and at 8:00am, no less — was a first for this league, but GAU FC didn’t let it bother them.

“I think the girls did what they can with the heat. They just passed the ball, less running, more of passing, letting the ball do the work more than them,” Dillera added.

The team has a lot to be excited for in the coming games, with new additions to their squad, particularly members of youth national teams.

“We’re happy they joined GAU now. Gly and Val (Polido) were my players last time sa UFL, so I know how they play. Em (Maligalig) and TJ (Isulat) are really good players,” Dillera shared.

Martinez was just as happy, later admitting it was the best game of her career.

The second game took place the following Sunday morning, and featured the only two teams who had then been unbeaten: De La Salle University, fresh off their successful UAAP stint, and OutKast FC.

Within five minutes, Irish Navaja made a forward pass that looked like it was meant for striker Kyra Dimaandal. Recognizing that Dimaandal was offside, and with OutKast defense distracted from a downed teammate, Chelo Hodges scurried for the ball after hearing no whistle, which led to a one-on-one situation with keeper Yasmin Elauria who she got the better of to put La Salle up by 1.

Six minutes after halftime, Dimaandal made a run from the halfway line before passing to Hodges, whose shot was blocked. Hodges gathered the ball and after a short pass, Dimaandal slotted in the team’s second. The goal also means Dimaandal has extended her scoring streak to six games.

La Salle’s third and final goal came in the 74th minute via Kyla Inquig. The MVP of the recently-concluded UAAP season combined with Dimaandal for a couple of quick passes before finishing at a tight angle.

OutKast FC did manage a consolation goal that came from Mea Bernal. The defender combined with Stacey Arthur and Barbie Sobredo for some nifty passing before scoring with seven minutes to go.

La Salle may have already won a title this season, but it looks like they are hungry for more.

“Coach Hans would always tell us every training na, ‘Tapos na UAAP, you gotta focus now on what we have,'” Meryll Ledesma shared after the game. The co-captain admits that it has become the motivation for the team, along with the chance to make history as champions of the new league.

Ledesma also revealed that nothing has changed for them since winning the UAAP title before turning wistful, sharing that the seniors are making the most out of their last games together.

“Ganun pa din, training, same. Same drills, polishing lang, and I guess stamina, running. Besides UAAP, we still want it to end with a bang. Kasi siyempre, we’ll never get to play with our teammates ever again,” she added.

Head coach Hans-Peter Smit joked it was timely that the league had restarted that weekend instead of the week before. “We’re lucky, I think all my girls would have hangovers, they were celebrating the whole week.”

Smit reiterated what Ledesma said about focusing on the league with the UAAP done. “Now this is the priority. I don’t like living in the past even if it’s very recent. We joined this, let’s commit.”

Determined to keep his side’s winning streak going, Smit is eyeing no less than the top. “People already know that we swept the UAAP [so] we need to live up to our reputation as far as the UAAP has gone. I think we have two more games left, if we can win both we’ll get six points from those. Then that means we topped already the first round. So, one foot inside already.”

Young reinforcements power TYFA past shocked UP

The last fixture involved two teams that were struggling — The Younghusband FA, who were coming off successive losses in the league, and the University of the Philippines, who had finished second to last in the UAAP. It eventually turned into a back-and-forth goalfest with the club team prevailing, 4-2.

A handball after a corner in the 10th minute led to a penalty situation for TYFA, which newly transferred Kaitlyn Dabalos duly converted.

Three minutes into the second half, Cristina De Los Reyes cancelled out TYFA’s lead. Two minutes later, the captain outran her defender for a shot and UP were ahead.

UP seemed to relax afterwards and this would prove to be their undoing as TYFA decided to fight back spurred on by the club’s new younger members. In the 67th minute, Krizha Guteza Morgan leveled things up after a lapse in judgment by goalie Vanessa Estrada.

With ten minutes to go, it was Nicole Ramores who saw TYFA through, fighting for possession inside the box before slamming in the go-ahead. Six minutes later she consolidated after being left wide open.

The win over a UAAP team came as a surprise and Leyble acknowledged this. “Hindi namin inexpect na mananalo kami kasi this is the first time na mag-meet lahat. So yun sabi namin huwag lang tayo sasabay sa game nila kasi sila, fresh pa from UAAP.”

Leyble also said that they recognized his side actually had an advantage around early on. “Nakita namin na mas aggressive yung team namin dahil parang coming out of tryouts yung pinalaro nila. Naninibago [yung kalaban], so kailangan tayo maka-force ng laro,” he added.

ON DECK

The PFF Women’s League continues this weekend at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Mia’s problem is she likes too many things. Sometimes she’s an engineer, sometimes an athlete, sometimes an artist, sometimes a faux dog whisperer, sometimes an otaku, often a Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer fangirl but she most definitely is a sports enthusiast and a strong advocate of the women’s game.

“They never take the pressure off. You know, they’re confident in their system—and that comes from Aldin [Ayo],” shared Baldwin, who has 35 years of experience under his belt. “They believe in their players, they believe in their system and they’re just not gonna take their foot off your throat for one minute.

“I admire that so much.”

After getting a chance to see and experience the holistic system that Ayo has developed last season, the former Gilas Pilipinas head coach shared that their physical training just to keep up with La Salle started as early as January. But even with this preparation, the Blue Eagles needed to dig deep in each of their five meetings this season.

“We had to rise to their level. They set the bar. So I have to congratulate them for that.

“Losing is always tough and I’m happy it’s them not us but there’s no lack of respect and admiration for who they are and what they did to get here, what they did today,” beamed Baldwin.

“They fought back again. We had them down and again they fought back. You know, we had them down ten and then they cut it to I don’t know, three or something, two?,” he pointed out.

“They’re champions, they’re still champions. You can’t take that away from them. But now, so are we.”

Fresh off his first series loss in two years, Ayo shrugged off the kind words that the American-Kiwi mentor said about him and his system, saying it is all part of the build-up for next season.

“He’s playing mind games.

“Ganoon naman palagi eh. Ako naiintindihan ko naman because he’s just competing. He’s going to say nice things and those things are preparation for next year,” the highly-competitive coach said.

“Everything that we say here to all of you, lahat yan may purpose, and that purpose is to compete,” Ayo added. “Kung titignan mo yung motive, he’s just competing. On our part, walang problema. We just want to compete.”

Ricci Rivero finds solace in family, faith after tough Finals loss

In his second season, Ricci Rivero made a huge leap during the De La Salle University Green Archers’ title defense campaign. The 19-year-old embraced the role of one of the team’s scorers, helping ease the loss of Jeron Teng.

Even with the graduation of Teng and three other Green Archers — namely bruiser Jason Perkins, stopper Julian Sargent, and floor general Thomas Torres — the Green Archers were pegged to repeat their title win, as they still had world-talent Ben Mbala, leader Kib Montalbo, and young guns Ricci Rivero and Aljun Melecio unraveling their potential.

Immediately after the awarding ceremony, he gathered with his older brother Prince and their parents near the cross in the dugout to console each other. The La Salle lifer is fortunate to have his family backing him up as he move on from this defeat.

Now that the Season 80’s Most Improved Player has experienced both winning and losing on the big stage, he wants to reflect from this experience and be back more mature as ever.

With the game tied 66-66 at the end of the third period, La Salle sought to seize an early advantage and forced three after three to no avail early in the fourth quarter. By contrast, Ateneo sunk three of their seven three-point attempts that doomed La Salle.

“Hindi lang pumapasok shots namin,” rued Melecio, a sophomore.

Come the final buzzer, it was the Blue and White who emerged victorious after 40 minutes of basketball. As the confetti rained down on center court, the Green Archers were either weeping or standing in disbelief. One of those most devastated was skipper Kib Montalbo.

Overall, Ateneo simply outscored and outlasted La Salle, and a big reason for that was the Blue Eagles’ overall efficiency from the downtown. The newly crowned champions went 10-for-25 from downtown compared to La Salle’s 8-of-33.

Still, Caracut — speaking on behalf of his two closest teammates — expressed that they had given it their all even if the result did not go in their favor.

“Binigay naman namin yung best namin,” said the third-year guard, who put up 8.67 points per game in the season finale.

La Salle will have a mostly intact lineup next year, as it is only Abu Tratter who has played out his eligibility. Cameroonian star Ben Mbala is still eligible for one more year based on the current eligibility rules. Redemption mode is officially on for the Green Archers.

Standing out from the sea of green was two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player Ben Mbala. At 6-foot-7, the Cameroonian student-athlete openly wept on the floor.

“This has to be a learning experience for me. You can’t just learn by winning, you can also learn by losing.

“This is a situation that you have to learn by losing and I take it as a man,” the 22-year-old shared.

Having come off a stint with the Cameroonian national team in the 2017 FIBA Afrobasket last August, Mbala added new weapons to his arsenal. He was faster, more dangerous, and more experienced compared to his first year in La Salle. However, the league — and specifically, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles — has also improved.

During the Finals, Mbala averaged 15.67 points on 52.78 percent shooting to go along with 14.0 rebounds, 1.67 steals, and 2.67 blocks. But during Game Three, the Green Archers faltered at the most crucial of times, allowing the Blue Eagles to bomb threes all over them while settling for tough shots. This gave Ateneo a 78-70 cushion with 4:30 left in the season.

“Ateneo played better as a team. They stuck to their game plan.

“We didn’t get to play our game, we didn’t have our rhythm,” admitted Mbala. “We just played within the flow and we took a lot of bad shots, turned the ball over when it was the most important.”

Mbala has vowed to come back stronger next season once he clears things up with the Green Archers’ brass. But as of now, he just plans to move on from this painful defeat.

“It’s a game after all, just not because it’s Ateneo or La Salle you have to hate each other,” Mbala said.

“After the game, we still have our lives and we have to keep going on with our lives.”